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Underpinnings Unit Overview |
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Why
the name, Underpinnings? This collection of Excursions is referred to
as Underpinnings because the content of the excursions forms the underpinnings
for much of the rest of the more content oriented units. (See A. Arons, 1990.
A Guide to Introductory Physics Teaching.
J. Wiley, New York.) The set of Excursions is about the nature and
processes of science. Science
involves observation, measurement, looking for trends in sets of data, use of
various modes of representation, including graphing, seeking meaning through
interpreting observations and then modeling relations between an outcome and
possible factors that affect it. We
seek to be able to explain how and why natural events happen the way they
do. When we think we perceive a
relationship, assuming that relationship is true allows us to make a
prediction. Then, we experiment to
test or verify that our idea works or doesn't. When we have gained confidence that our ideas work, we allow
ourselves to use this idea and others to solve problems and interpret other
phenomena. In this way we continue to
test and revise our ideas, and our predictions and explanations get
progressively more reliable and valid.
These are some of the aspects of science that form the underpinnings
for being able to conduct an inquiry into the workings of the natural world
and the human-made world. Underpinnings as a set of somewhat independent Excursions The present set of Excursions include the
following: Operational
Definitions Representing
Measurements Representing
Uncertainty in Calculations Graphing Ratio
Reasoning Relating
Graphs and Ratios Scientific
Explanation Designing
Experiments For each of the content units of CPU, one or
more of the separate Excursions can be used effectively as a short
introduction to some of the specific scientific processes that would enhance
the development of the particular CPU unit.
For example, before doing the Light and Color Unit, you may choose to
use the Excursions Scientific Explanations and Designing Experiments. Your students likely would not need
Representing Measurements, Graphing, Relating Graphs and Ratios in order to
investigate and learn the big ideas of Light and Color. On the other hand, for your students to
understand Force and Motion, excursions into Representing Measurements,
Graphing, and Relating Graphs and Ratios will be very important. Thus, excursions into different processes
of science can be done at the front end or embedded within each of the
subject matter content units to help build the skills necessary for
developing the big ideas of the unit. Each Excursion will include some teacher
guidance as to the prerequisites to
and goals for understanding the big ideas of the Excursion. If activities from a different Excursion
are needed, that will be noted. Underpinnings:
In search of patterns as an independent CPU Unit The Excursions included in Underpinnings can
be thought of collectively as an introductory unit to the rest of the CPU
course that might include two or more of the subject matter units. Used that way, it is similar to the other
CPU units in the sense that it has cycles composed of elicitation,
development, and a few application activities. It is different from the other units in that this unit only
initiates threads of the nature and processes of science. To adequately develop the "big ideas"
of this Underpinnings unit requires subsequent "revisits" of the
ideas in the contexts of the inquiry involved in the development of the
content ideas within the other units.
This unit initiates the unraveling of threads of processes of science
that must be woven through the more subject-matter oriented, conceptual
content of one or more of the other units.
If Underpinnings is to be used as the only unit to which students will
be exposed, the cycles (Excursions) should be supplemented by many more
application activities. Normally they
would have been part of the other units. As a unit, In Search of Patterns
is probably best done in the order listed above. The development of the unit might incorporate the Excursions in
the following way: Underpinnings Unit: In Search of Patterns Part
1. In search of constancy: Defining and Measuring Quantities Operational Definitions Representing Measurements Part
2. In Search of Constancy in Change: Numerical and Graphical Trends Ratio Reasoning Graphing Relating Graphs and Ratios Part
3. In Search of Meaning: Generating Ideas and Explanations Scientific Explanations Part
4. Testing Meaning: Experiments, Evidence, Reasoning, and Mathematical Modeling Designing Experiments In an attempt to make Underpinnings a unit, we
offer the theme of searching for patterns.
Thus, the subtitle: In Search of Patterns (ISOP). That subtitle makes sense because to a
considerable extent, that is what human perception and cognition systems
do. We search for patterns when we
observe and think about the world around us.
As human beings, we have considerable, but limited, memory and
capacity for mental processing. If
every variation of a situation was perceived as a completely new situation,
we probably would not have survived. We've
learned long ago, if an animal looks like the striped cat which chased us yesterday
and ate one of our friends, perhaps we had better avoid this animal. Thus, we organize our perceptions,
memories, and our actions in ways that allow us to exist in an ever changing
world. Although today is different
from yesterday, we look for consistency in the behavior of our
environment. We seek consistency in
observations and measurements, constancy of trends and relationships, and
constancy in the outcomes that are associated with our actions. In short, as humans, we are constantly In
Search of Patterns? When considering
Underpinnings as a unit, each part, composed of one or more of the
Excursions, is focused on a cluster of aspects associated with pattern search
and identification. |